


Variations on an Oft Battered Theme

by theangrywarlock



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: F/M, Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:33:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23141011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theangrywarlock/pseuds/theangrywarlock
Summary: Drabbles pertaining to the Marius/Eponine pairing or simply Eponine. A take-off on what could have been and what-if upon what happened next. Other pairings and characters added to the tags as they happen. No Cosette bashing.
Relationships: Marius Pontmercy/Éponine Thénardier
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

She grew up hearing stories of knights on horses. She learned of gentlemen when she became older. What few books she read spoke of romance and how the man was always the one to slay the beasts and rescue the damsel in distress. The princess or queen wouldn't be bothered with the hassles of ruling her kingdom and tended to seek adventure elsewhere.

The streets were her kingdom, and within them she held no responsibilities except to herself and sometimes to Azelma. She subsisted on a day to day plan of finding anything she could to eat. She moved fluidly but gracefully, her lithe being capable of doing so despite the rags that she wore. She sometimes paused to look at the prettier, cleaner garments that women wore, and found them both wonderful and very inconvenient. There was nowhere to hide a blade in all those ruffles and skirts. How could you outrun a gendarme in those shoes? The parasols would make weapons, but they weren't good compared to clubs and nightsticks.

She did not dream of dragons or princes. She dreamed of a faraway land that had food aplenty and a way out for herself and her younger sister, but every dream has an end, and Eponine kept hers on ice for now. If there was one thing she learned in life, it was the constant change. It was pointless to let go of a dream even if she was living harshly. Her hope kept her alive and her spirit kept her fast to escape from danger.

In time, she became her own prince.

In time, she found her own damsel in distress. He dressed in black and seemed to be in a constant state of woe. He noticed her presence from time to time but never when it counted. She kneed Montparnasse in the groin when he attempted to rob the young man. She mocked her father with Marius when she received the note and ate his bread. She kept him safe at the barricade from the dragons on the other side.

When all was said and done, she had come out the other side all the more feisty. She always knew what little she was worth, but now she knew how much she was worth, and the two numbers contradicted one another.

She kissed him and it was meant to be for farewell. She didn't want tears. She wanted to be away from her life, to find somewhere new and exciting. Homeless, she may be, but she had wings and she had Azelma, and she would find them a new nest somewhere out of the filth of the city.

But then his hand clasped hers and he asked her not to depart from him.

And because Eponine was a noble knight, she could not stand to break his heart.


	2. Chapter 2

She did not clean up very well.

Marius had come back home from his firm, hoping to see the house in some semblance of order. Granted, he was careful not to make much of a mess anyway. The only idea he had of a mistress' duty had been between Courfeyrac, who thought the world began and ended in bed, and Gillenormand, who spent much of his time doing the chasing.

Eponine was the only one who could change his perceptions, but that was proving to be a bit difficult since she had her own ideas.

The house was not cleaned, but she had managed to pilfer someone's wallet. "I used it to purchase us dinner."

He tried taking her out on his arm, but the first two females they passed did them the disservice of looking upon Eponine as though she was dirt.

Marius didn't know she could spit so far or so accurately. He had to impress himself upon the police officer that Eponine had acted in self-defense and he would pay for the girls' ripped clothing.

About the only ideas they had of being a mistress were the ones spent in bed, and even then it was Marius who was sore the next day and walking funny to work. Eponine, for her part, stayed in bed until the afternoon and rose up only to face the daily rush and grind of being a mistress. There was a large crowd out on the streets today, and those pockets wouldn't pick themselves.

Marius would be so proud.


	3. Chapter 3

She had been Marius' mistress for awhile now as he scraped together funds to purchase her a proper ring. He intended to do everything by the book, including steadily courting her and then marriage. Eponine would have preferred a good roll in the proverbial hay to all this waiting, but she knew how flustered Marius could get.

Of course, this just made her fantasize about tying him up one night and teaching him all she knew. The only thing that stopped her was that he would likely claim something about propriety.

Honestly. The man could be so slow sometimes.

Like now.

"Because you haven't eaten?" Marius guessed.

She smiled. "That would be a start. You haven't taken me out to eat. You know I can't cook and you neglect yourself when you start studying your law. So are you going to ask me?"

Marius immediately stood, facing Eponine with her slightly tattered skirt and her stained shirt. He bowed as though she were a princess. "Would you do me the honor of accompanying me to dinner?"

Eponine tapped her finger against her cheek in contemplation. "When asked so severely, I think it would be rude to say no. Let me get changed first. I'll not have you be seen with someone so bedraggl-"

Her breath caught in her throat as he crushed her lips to his, one of his hands wrapped around her wrist, pulling and keeping her close. All the passion Marius kept close to his chest tended to come out in his searing kisses that made her forgetful of everything.

When at last he pulled away, he touched her cheek. "I'll not be seen with anyone else."

It was a clumsy sentence, but the full romantic intentions Marius meant all too well. Eponine smiled at him, loving his awkwardness and mangled sentiments of love.

**Author's Note:**

> I am bad at writing drabbles that only equal to 100 words. These are too long to be actual drabbles and too short to be ficlets. Feel free to complain to me in the comments, but if you need to throw something, please let it be vegetables.


End file.
